


Simple Intuition

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 04:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13943013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: Sometimes you’ve just gotta talk to your dad. And he always seems to know when that ‘sometimes’ is, even before you do.





	Simple Intuition

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno. I had a rough week and this helped me get through it.

A buzzing from his nightstand was what woke him.

Well, sort of. He was probably about to wake up anyway. Another night full of nightmares. Dead brothers, injured friends. Monsters, criminals, snapping trapeze wires. The last thing he remembered was Jason being shoved out of an airplane, Damian trying to reach him and being thrown out himself. The two falling into a stormy, raging ocean-

But he’d much rather wake up from a buzzing phone than in a cold sweat, with a heart beating in panic and anticipating anguish. And he already had that cold sweat, it appeared. He could feel it tingling on his skin. The phone merely saved him from the panic and anguish, and he was more than grateful for that small solace.

He blinked away the moisture in his eyes, took a deep breath as he rolled over and grabbed the device with trembling fingers. Flicked the corner of the screen to activate the call, and held it to his ear.

“Hello?” He mumbled sleepily.

“…Hi.” Bruce. It was _Bruce_. That made him a little more alert. Still middle of the night. According to the clock, only two AM. Bruce should have still been on patrol. Still been Batman.

Batman didn’t call unless he needed help.

“You okay?” Dick slurred, already tightening his muscles to sit up. “Everything okay? What do you need?”

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.” And Bruce sounded…odd. In his tired mind, Dick couldn’t quite decipher the tone. He could hear the sound of an engine, the wind moving around the vehicle. “…I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“Nah.” Dick hummed, taking another deep breath, trying to wish away those lingering images of the nightmares, trying to calm that galloping heartbeat. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Hm.” Bruce grunted suspiciously. Nothing could get past him.

“So…if everything’s fine, what’s up?” Dick sighed. “You still on patrol?”

“Yes. We were just finishing up.” Bruce responded softly. “And, like I said, nothing. Everything’s fine. I…” Bruce cleared his throat, like he was embarrassed. “I just wanted to talk to you. Check up on you. You haven’t called in a while, or been home.”

“Has it been so long?” Dick chuckled. “I’m sorry, B. I’ll get home one of these days, I promise.” Bruce didn’t say anything. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Damian and I.” When Bruce spoke next, his voice sounded a little further away, like he’d turned his head. “He’s asleep, right here.”

“Cutie.” Dick snorted. “Any injuries?”

“No. Just a slow night, so I decided to cut patrols short.” Bruce explained, looking back towards the road. “He deserves a break every so often, don’t you think?”

“Always.” Dick said instantly. If he wasn’t so tired, he’d have retorted that Damian deserved to be out of this job completely. That he deserved to be kept safe, and have a normal life. But it would have just been a useless repetition – Bruce already knew that. Bruce already blamed himself for that.

But before either of them could say anything else, there was a noise from Bruce’s end. A deep, guttural sound – a _snore_. But it wasn’t Damian. It was too old to be Damian, too far back in the car.

“Who else you got?” Dick asked. “Jay?”

And there was a smile in his voice when he came back with: “Cassandra.”

Dick found himself smiling too. He could see the image instantly. Bruce at the wheel, Damian curled up like a kitten in the front seat. Cassandra sprawled across the back seat, head tilted at an uncomfortable angle, the snores coming from her sweet little nose.

“Wasn’t just Damian who deserved a break tonight, huh?” Dick whispered, pulling his blankets up his chest. Nice and warm and comfy. “Tell them both hi for me, when they wake up.”

“Of course.” Another hesitation. “…How are you, Dick? Really?”

Dick’s smile faded. “Fine, for the most part. _Really_ , Bruce.”

And it wasn’t just Dick who learned to outwait Bruce. Bruce had five kids – he knew how to outwait them too.

“I don’t know, I…” Dick flopped an arm across his face, settling back into his pillows. “Struggling? Tired? Lonely, maybe? Still trying to find myself and feeling like I’m just getting more lost than ever.”

Bruce continued to wait.

“I miss you guys.” That wetness was coming back to his eyes. “I miss my family. I miss Gotham.”

“You’re always welcome to come home.” Bruce said quickly. Not condescending, or bitter. Just a fact. Almost like a plea. The ones aging parents always ask of their adult children.

“I know. But Blud needs me.” Dick sighed. “And you know how this life works, Bruce. Sometimes, you’ve gotta put that first.”

“Not always.” Bruce murmured. “I’m not, tonight.”

“Because tonight you’re a dad with two sleepy kids. You’re basically useless as a masked vigilante.” Dick smirked. Stopped talking himself, just listened to the sound of Bruce’s car, reveled in the weird comfort it brought. The weird relief of knowing two of his siblings were in that car, safe and comfortable. “Where’re the other two?”

“At Clark’s.” More amusement in his tone, and Dick never thought about what a great sound that was. “Reds Hood and Robin were working a case with the Outlaws and elder Superboy. Ended in Kansas. Ms. Lane invited them back for a post-mission meal since they were all so close – not to mention the younger Superboy wanted to see them. All participants fell asleep afterwards. Clark said he’s happy to keep them all for a few days of recuperation.”

“Good. I’m glad. They all deserve it.” Dick said honestly. And again, a stop, just a peaceful silence. No tension, no anger. “…Bruce, why’d you call? Really?”

“…I had a feeling, I guess. Not that something was _wrong_ , just that…” A sigh. “That I needed to talk to you.”

“A father’s intuition, maybe?” Dick teased.

“Maybe. Maybe it was just me, and my constant worry for you got to be too much.” Bruce chuckled back. Dick heard something like rain, knew Bruce had just gone under the waterfall that led into the cave. “Regardless, I wanted to check in. _Needed_ to check in.”

“Well I appreciate it, B.” Dick whispered, turning onto his side, curling tighter into his blankets. Those images from his terrors were still in his head, but disappearing with every second he was on the line with his family. With his dad. “It’s made my whole night better.”

“I’m sure.” Bruce hummed, still amused. Dick listened as the car stopped, and Bruce put it in park. “Well, we’re home now, so I better get these two up to bed.”

“Ah, yes. The ultimate dad move. Carrying baby up to bed.”

Suddenly there was shuffling, and a voice softer than a flower petal.

“Not dad.” Cassandra was smiling, Dick could hear it. That and the fact that there wasn’t an ounce of sleep in her tone. “ _Sister_.”

“You’re the best, Cassie.” Dick laughed. “Give him a big smooch for me after you tuck him in, okay?”

“Of course.” She said. And he listened, imagining it, as she slipped around the passenger seat to get out of the car, then leaned back in to scoop Damian up into her arms. He heard Damian give his tired little scoff, then heard Cass giggle, followed by her footsteps away from the car and up towards the manor.

“You got some good kids there, B.” Dick decided.

“Indeed I do.” Bruce agreed. And he didn’t say anything more to it, but Dick’s heart swelled, knowing the statement was directed at him, too. “I’m sorry I woke you, Dick.”

“Better you than the nightmares I was having.” Dick admitted with an annoyed sigh. “So, thanks for that assist.”

Bruce hummed as he shut the engine off, and just sat in the car for a minute. Then two. “…I miss you, son.”

“I miss you, too.” And Dick could have broken down in tears then, if he was awake enough. “I’ll come home soon. I swear.”

“I hope so.” Bruce murmured, and Dick could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “Damian’s already threatening to come kidnap you if you don’t. Tim offered to help him.” A hearty laugh. “Even hundreds of miles away, you’re bringing out the best in those two.”

“I do what I can.”

Another nostalgic hum. “Go back to sleep, Dick. We’ll talk again later, alright?”

“Alright, Bruce. I will.”

“And.” A tired sigh of his own. “If you ever need _anything_. I’m always here. Your _family’s_ always here. Whenever you need us. Day or night.”

“I know. I know, Bruce.” Dick smiled, and closed his eyes. “Thank you.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” The sound of a door opening. “Goodnight, Dick.”

And he couldn’t help it. With the nightmares and stresses he mentioned, he just. Needed it, this one time. So it was quiet, but no less sincere – and he knew Bruce knew that.

“G’night, Dad.”


End file.
